Pyeongtaek, South Korea - President Joe Biden arrived in South Korea Friday on his first Asia trip as US leader, aiming to cement economic and security ties with regional allies despite growing fears of a North Korean nuclear test.
His first stop was a massive Samsung semiconductor factory, where he received a warm welcome from South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk-yeol, with global supply chain issues topping the agenda.
Biden, in his first remarks since arriving in South Korea at the start of a trip meant to demonstrate US resolve to lead in Asia, said the two countries’ alliance was “a lynchpin of peace, stability and prosperity” in the world.
Speaking at the factory in Pyeongtaek alongside Yoon, Biden described the advanced semiconductors manufactured there as “a wonder of innovation” and crucial to the world’s economy.
The tiny, smart wafers “enable our modern lives” and are “the key to propelling us into the next era of humanity’s technological development”, he added.
Semiconductors -- the microchips essential to most modern devices from phones to cars and high-tech weapons -- are at the heart of a global supply chain slowdown that threatens to disrupt the world’s post-Covid economic recovery. South Korea and the United States need to work to “keep our supply chains resilient, reliable and secure”, Biden said.
His first stop was a massive Samsung semiconductor factory, where he received a warm welcome from South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk-yeol, with global supply chain issues topping the agenda.
Biden, in his first remarks since arriving in South Korea at the start of a trip meant to demonstrate US resolve to lead in Asia, said the two countries’ alliance was “a lynchpin of peace, stability and prosperity” in the world.
Speaking at the factory in Pyeongtaek alongside Yoon, Biden described the advanced semiconductors manufactured there as “a wonder of innovation” and crucial to the world’s economy.
The tiny, smart wafers “enable our modern lives” and are “the key to propelling us into the next era of humanity’s technological development”, he added.
Semiconductors -- the microchips essential to most modern devices from phones to cars and high-tech weapons -- are at the heart of a global supply chain slowdown that threatens to disrupt the world’s post-Covid economic recovery. South Korea and the United States need to work to “keep our supply chains resilient, reliable and secure”, Biden said.